Machine for making molded compressed articles



Feb. 18, 1923 c. HUNT. MACHINE FOR MAKING MOLDED COMPRESSED ARTICLES.

FILED APR. 7. 1919.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1L Feb. 13, 1923.

0. HUNT.

MACHINE FOR MAKING MOLDED.COMPRESSED ARTICLES.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

FILED APR=7,1919.

Feb. 13, 1923.

c. HUNT. MACHINE FOR MAKING MOLDED COMPRESSED ARTlCLES.

FILED APR. '7, 1919i 3 SHEETSSHEET 3.

2:51. II II II I II II 'I ll II- Patented Feb, l3, 1923.

warren "rte Parent are.

CHESTER HUNT, OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR T0 UNITED SHOE MACHINERYCORPORATION, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

MACHINE FOR MAKING MOLDED COMPRESSED ARTICLES.

Application filed April 7,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHESTER HUNT, a citizen of the United States,residing at Lynn, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts,have invented certain Improvements in Machines tor Making MoldedCompressed Articles, of which the following description, in connectionwith the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like referencecharacters on the drawings indicating like parts in the several figures.

This invention relates to the manufacture of articles such as boot orshoe heels directly from material broadly termed pulp herein, by whichterm I mean leather-board or any equivalent plastic material capable ofbeing molded to' form heels or other useful articles it is well knownthat in view of the advancing cost of leather, it has become common tomake heels largely of leather-board to provide a machine which willproduce the body portions of heels, or even complete heels in somecases, rapidly, economically, automatically, and with no waste of stockwhatever. To this end an important feature of the invention consists inthe provision of a mold into which pulp is intermittently transferred,one portion of the mold being movable and actuated to compress the pulpand an opposite portion being movable to permit the escape of-a mold edartic1e,'means being provided to hold the last-mentioned portion inoperative position during the compressing operation.

In the illustrated machine, a pulp supply tank is provided and pulptherefrom passes through one or more pipes to a chamber in which ahorizontally sliding pusher separates sufiicientdiulp for the heel partor heel ,p

places it under preliminary to be made an 1919. Serial No. 287,973.

pressure to express therefrom a large proportionof the water which thenescapes is fed into a mold of the shape of the heel to be produced. Ascrew and toggle operated device then acts upon a portion of the moldwhich is constructed to form a plunger to cause said plunger to descendand compress the mass of pulp, molding it into the form of a heel.Portions of themold, such as the plunger and the bottom thereof, areperforated'to permit the further escape of moisture, and the heel isheld under pressure in the mold for such length of time as Is requisite.The bottom of y the mold is movable, preferablylike a hinged trap door,and is supported by a slide which, when the plunger pressure ceases, iswithdrawn, permitting the heel to fall, or be ejected, through thebottom of the mold, to be led away. In the particular embodiment of theinvention shown, the molding mechanism is in triplicate, receiving pulpfrom one supply tank, so that three heels are formed simultaneously.

Important features of the invention con-' sist in providing for apreliminary elimination of water from the pulp onits way to the mold ormolds to reduce the time of the molding operation and the length ofmotion required for the plunger or plungers; in providing for a slowcompressing movement and rapid return of the plunger or plungers; inroviding for the ready escape of moisture i i'om the/mold or moldswithout permitting escape of the fibrous material; and in providingmeans whereby, when the molding operation has ceased and the molds areopened, aslight further motion is imparted to the plungers to eject thearticles. Y

The aboveand other features of the in vention will now be described andthen pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings i Fig. 1 is a. front elevation ofa machineembodying my improvements, said figure being partlybroken out or 1nsection;

Fig.2 is a plan view of the machine, some arts being removed and otherparts shown in section;

Figs. 3, 4, 5 and 6 are detail sectional elevations representingdifferent stages of the molding operations; I

Figs. 7 and 8 are perspective views of the upper and lower movablemembers, respec tively, of the mold; and

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of a shoe heel which has been formed bymeans of mold members of the type shown in Figs. 7 and 8.

A suitable machine frame-work is indicated at 12, said frame-worksupporting a supply tank or reservoir 13, only the lower portion of suchtank being shown in Fig.1.

Leading downwardly from the tank 13 on opposite sides of the machine, asindicatedby comparing Fi s. 1 and '2 are two conduits 14 both of whichcommunicate at their lower ends with: a transverse receiving chamber 15.x

The particular machine illustrated in the drawings is designed forsimultaneously molding three heels and I have therefore provided threethroats 16 leading horizontally from the, transverse chamber 15 to threemolding devices indicated by dotted lines, in Fig. 2. I In each of thethroats 16 is mounted a'reciprocating feeder or pusher 17, the threepushers being connected at their rear ends to operate simultaneouslyas.- hereinafter explained. 1

Each of the three molds, the vertical walls of which are indicated at.18 in Figs.

,3 to 6 inclusive, is provided with-a hinged bottom member 19 againstwhich a meas-- ured quantity of pulp which has been. fed to the moldchamber by a. pusher is pressed b" a top molding member or plunger 20.

he mold members 19 and 20 are formed respectively with small holes 21and 22 for theescape of moisture, the face of each of said two moldmembers having athin wire I gauze sheet 23 secured to it, the gauzebeing fine enough to allow only water to escape through holes on themolding members.

The pushers or feeders 17,are mounted to reciprocatein guides 24, therear ends of said pushers being suitably connected by a transversemember having at the front and rear of the machine a pin 26-extendingthrough a slot 25 formed in the guide 24. The front and rear pins 26extend through slots 27 formed in slides 28, there being one of saidslides at the front and also one at the rear of the machine. Each slide28 is fitted to guideways 29 (Fig. 1) and is tates inside of the loop39.

shaft 37 having two disks 36, one of which with its intermediateoperating mechanism isshown in Fig. 1. Each disk 36 carries a sector-38which rotates along side of and behind a cam-shaped loop 39 formed inthe lever 30. In other words, the lever 30 is not continuous from end toend but between its ends is open in the form of the loop 39.-

Carried by the disk 36 is a pin 40 which ro- The lever is formed orprovided with a block 41 adapted, when the shaft 37 rotates in thedirection of the arrow in Fig. 1, tobe engaged and actuated by thesector 38 so as to'swing the lever 30 toward the right in said figure.When this occurs the pushers are advanced comparatively slowly andtransfer a suit-, able quantity of pulp to the molds, the lateralextension'o'f the loop 39'-in the lever permitting the pin 40 of thedisk 36 to pass. without obstruction. That is, the lever pin 40 willthen be in the apex of the open ing in the loop when said lever has beenswung to the right. After the sector 38 has passe the block 41 of thelever, the said lever is returned to normal position,

swings so as to be in a position where the drawing back the pushers orfeeders, by

head 44 of a binding screw is indicated in Fig. 1, said screw passinginto the member which connects the three ushers so that by means of thesaid binding screw and the pin-and-slotconnection 26 and 27, thepushers17 may be adjusted longitudinally relatively to the said slides 28.

The mechanism for operating the shaft 33 comprises a worm wheel 46carried by said shaft and driven by a worm '47 on shaft 48 having a.belt pulley 49.

Referring now to Figs. 3 to 6 inclusive in connection with Fig. 1, eachupper mold member 20 has. a stem 50 and a flange 51 which provides awall or abutment against which the pulp is squeezed preliminarily whenthe'pusher 17 moves from the Fig. 4 position to the Fig. 5 position.

The stem 50 is connected at 52 to a-transverse bar 53, which lattercarries the three upper mold members. The bar 53 is provided with upperextensions which are partly shown in section in Fig. 1, said extensionshaving vertical slots 54 through each of which a pin 55 passes,'said pinbeing carried by downwardly extending portions 56 of a block 57, theends of which are guided in vertical frame brace members-58.

Pivotally connected in recessed portions 59 of the block 57 are thelowerends of four toggle links 60.. Only two of said links are indicatedin Fig. 2 because said figure at p 'is mounted at its ends in suitablebearings in the frame work. Inasmuch as, in the operation of themachine, an excessive strain might be transmitted through the togglelinks to the screw 62 I provide the blocks 61 with anti-friction rolls63 .which ride.

against a portion of the frame formed ,as a smooth bearing track 64..

At one end the screw 62 is provided with a small gear 65 meshing with alarge gear loose on shaft 33, said large gear having its hub formed orprovided with a clutch face 67. At the other end of the screw is a smallgear 68 meshing with an intermediate gear 69 which in turn meshes witha, small gear 70 loose on shaft 33 and having its hub formed or providedwith a clutch face 71.

Shiftable longitudinally on the shaft 33 is a sleeve 72, said sleevebeing splined or otherwise connected, as by a slot and pin, to the shaftso that said sleeve will be driven by said shaft but be capable of aslight longitudinal movement thereon. One end of the sleeve is providedwitlr a clutch memannular groove 75 receiving the rolls ber 73 and theother end with a clutch member 74. The sleevea-lso is formed or fittedwith an enlargement in which is an 76 (Fig. 2) of the forked arm of alever 77 (Fig. 1)., pivoted at 78 and having a roll 80 engaging a cam 81carried by a shafts83, a suitable spring 82 being employed to recam 81acts.

-Carried by the shaft 83 is a worm wheel 84 driven by a worm 85 carriedby a. shaft mounted in frame bearings 86 said shaft having a pinion 87engaging a gear 88 carv ried by the shaft 33.

Before describing the mechanism further it is to be understood that theplungers, or

members which carry the upper mold members, are designed to move slowlydown-- ward and to return quickly. This is effected by the mechanism andconnections just described, it being understood that the gearingoperates in such direction and is so timed'that when the cam 81 isactingupon the roll 80 of lever 7 7 the sleeve 72 is shifted to the leftfromthe position shown in Fig. 1 so that the clutch members 67, 73. will beinter-engaged,- and the clutch members 71, 74 will be sepa-" rated. Atsuch time the. large gear 66, through the small gear 65,rotatesthe'screw shaft in a direction to separate the blocks 61 and s0raise the upper mold members bymeans of the toggle links 60, then whenthe cam 81 has passed the roll. 80 of lever 7 7 the sleeve 72 returns tothe p'osltion shown in Fig. 1 and then the screw shaft 62 is rotated inthe opposite direction at a much slower speed,due to the gears 68, 69.

and 70, to bring. the blocks 61 toward each other at a slow enough speedto insure proper operation of the mold members.

When the downward movement of the upper members of the mold has ceasedand the molding operation has been completed, the

.lower members of the molds are designed to open or swing down (Fig. 6).To this end the bottom mold members 19 are pivoted at 89 to fixedbrackets 90 (Fig. 1). At

several wedges are connected to the two slides 91 by a transverse pin94. Each slide 91 has, near the right in Fig. 1, a pin 95 which engagesaslot in an arm 96 of a rockshaft 97,

such. rockshaft having another arm 98 carrying a roll engaging a camgroove99 in a disk secured to shaft 83 whereby, as the shaft 83 rotates,the slides 91 are reciprocated to cause the wedges 93 to alternatelymove under the mold members 29 to close them up against the bottom ofthe molds,

as shown in Fig. 3, or to retreat and release the mold members l9'asshown in Fig". 6.

At the front and rear of the machine is an elbow lever 100 pivotallysupported at 101 and having its upper arm formed with a slot 102 engagedby a pin 103 projecting from the transverse bar 53. The lower arm oflever 100 is in the path of a pin or roll 104ccarried by the slide 91.

The object of this construction is to part what might be termed aknocking action to the upper mold members after the lower mold membershave been swung down, so as to eject the molded articles. It is for thisreason that the lostmotion. connection is provided. as hereinbeforedescribed, consisting of the slots 54 and the pins 55. As seen inFig. 1. the pin,55 occupies the bottom of the slot 5 1, it being assumedthat the upper die members are-about to be pressed down. When themolding operation has been completed and the wedges 93 are about to bewithdrawn from below the mold members 19, the cam groove 99 actuates theelbow lever 100 so as to draw the slides'9l backward and of course thepins 104 are then moving backward also. At the same'time that the slides91 are moving backward the elbow levers 100 are'being swung so thattheir lower ends aremoving to the right in Fig.1 and a space stillcontinues between the lower ends of-said elbow levers and the pins 104.After the toggle links have acted to carry down the upper mold membersto exert the final pressure on the articles, the rockshaft 97 continuesto be actuated by the chm groove 99 so as to withdraw the slideg 91 alittle further or to a suliicient extent to cause the pins 104 tocontact with the lower arms of the elbow levers 100 and actuate saidelbow levers so that the upper arms thereof act through the pin and slotconnections 102, 103 to pull the transverse bar 53 down sufliciently tocause the plunger members 20 to eject the molded articles through thelower openings resulting from the downward swinging of the members 19.Any mechanical equivalent of the slots 54 in the upper part oftransverse bar 53 and the pins 55 carried by the toggle block 57 maybeemployed for providing a lost motion connection to enable this articleejecting operation to be performed.

It is desirable that as much liquid as possible shall be squeezed outfrom the pulp on its way to the molds. To this end I perforate the floorof the throats 16,- as indi-- cated at 106, and provide a funnel 107 todirect liquid so forced out into any suitable receptacle.

The liquid which is pressed from the pulp in the mold will of coursedrop with the ar-- ticles when the latter are discharged from the molds.At this time, however, the articles have been so compressed that theywill not quickly ,re-absorb any liquid and I may provide any suitablemeans for separating the articles from the water which means maycomprise a reticulated belt driven horizontally below the molds so as tocarry away the articles while permitting the liquid to fall through. n

Having now described my invention, I claim 1. A machine of thecharactendescribed comprising a mold adapted to form shoe heels or heelparts, a source of. supply of pulp, a measuring conduit leading from thelatter to said mold, said conduit having means for permitting'the escapeof water therefrom, means for forcing pulp along the conduit, and meansfor exerting pressure on a portion of the mold to express liquid fromthe pulp.

2. A machine of the character described comprising a mold having amovable member, a measuring conduit for supplying pulp to the mold, saidconduit having openings for the escape of water, a pusher in saidconduit, and means for actuating the pusher and said movable memberalternately.

3. In a machine of the character described, a mold having oppositemovable portions, means for intermittently introducing pulp to the mold,means for preliminarily pressing the pulp before it enters the mold,means for actuating one of said portions to compress the pulp, and meansfor alternately opening and closing the otherof said portions. y

4. In a machine of the character described,

, Learners means for intermittently introducing pulp to the mold, meansfor removing water from the pulp on its way to the'mold, means foractuating one of the movable portions of the mold to compress the pulp,and means for alternately opening and closing the other of the movableportions.

5. A machine of the class described having, in combination, a mold, apulp supply tank, a conduit from the tank to the mold, and means forpositively compacting pulp in the conduit and transferring it from theconduit to the mold; I

6. A machine of the class described having. in combination, a mold, apulp supply tank, a conduit from the tank to the mold,

and means for positively transferring the pulp from the conduit to themold in a succession of measured. quantities under preliminarycompacting pressure.

7. A machine of the class described having, in combination, a mold, apulp supply tank, aconduit from the tank to the mold, a i

and means for measuringpulp inthe conduit and positively transferringthe pulp from the conduit to the mold in asuccession of equal quantitiesunder preliminary compacting pressure, means being provided to ing, incombination, a mold provided with a movable bottom and a lunger top, asup-- ply tank and conduit or delivering ,pulp to the mold, a right andleft hand screw, nut blocks on the screw, toggle links-connecting saidblocks with the plunwr, a rigid trackway for said blocks to support thethrust of the plunger and toggle links, and means for actuating saidscrew.

10. A machine of the class described hav- I ing, in. combination, a moldprovided with a movable bottom and a plunger top, a supply tank andconduit for delivering pulp to the mold, a right and left hand screw,

nut blocks on the screw, toggle links con-- necting said blocks with theplunger, and

means for rotating said screw faster in one direction than the other.

11 A machine of the class described having, in combination, a moldprovided with a movable bottom and having fixed side walls, means foralternately holding said bottom in operative position and releasing itto permit it to open, a molding plunger movab'le toward and from saidbottom, means for supplying pulp to the mold,

65 a mold having opposite movable portions, means for actuating theplunger to a pre- 95 .8. A machine of the class described havdeterminedpoint while the mold bottom is in operative position, and means foractuating the plunger further after the mold bottom is released.

12. A machine of the class described having, in combination, a moldprovided with a hinged bottom, means for supplying pulp to'the mold, aslide and means for actuating it to alternately close and release saidhinged bottom. a plunger andmeans for reciprocating it relatively tosaid bottom, provision being made for lost motion between the plungerand its reciprocating means, and an independent plunger actuator tocause the plunger to eject the molded article after the hinged bottomopens.

13.111 a machine of the character described. amold, a pulp conduitcommunicating with the mold, a plunger movable past the delivery end ofthe conduit, means carried by said plunger to hold backthepulp in saidconduit, and means for subjecting pulp in the conduit to pressure Whilethe prevent passage of .pastthe delivery end of the conduit, a

pushcrin said conduit to feed pulp to the mold, means carried by thesaid plunger to close the delivery'end of the conduit and means foractuating said pusher while the plunger is in conduit-closing position,whereby the pulp in the conduit may be preliminarily compressed by thepusher.

15. In a machine of the lcharacter described, a plurality of molds. apassageway for pulp leading to each mold, a pusher in each passageway, asingle member connected to the several pushers, and means for actuatingsaid single members:

In testimony whereof'l have signed my name to thisspecification.

CHESTER HUNT.

